Dolcetto d'Alba, 2012

Elio has done Piedmont wines a great service over the last two decades. Not only has the outstanding quality of his delightful ‘La Morra’ Barolo wines raised Piedmont’s profile, but he has taken many younger growers, such as Marco Marengo, under his wing giving them advice and instilling confi dence in them to make and bottle their own wines. Elio’s production of modern style Burgundy-influenced Barolos is, alas, miniature, meaning many of the Cru Barolos sell out before they even reach our list. Always experimenting and looking to perfect his art, Elio makes some stunning wine outside of his strong Barolo portfolio, including the old vines single vineyard Larigi Barbera and the Barbera Nebbiolo blend, La Villa. As Elio steps ever closer to full retirement, his talented daughter Silvia is taking greater control of wine production. Their flagship wine, Barolo, undergoes a short fermentation of up to a week, followed by ageing in used oak barriques for 2 years, the same method applies to the Cru Barolos apart from are aged in anything up to 30% new oak. The langhe wines are all aged for a shorter time, 12-6 months, in 100% new oak. Despite these modern methods oak or alcohol are not at all the feature of these wines you'de expect. Rather they are packed with vivid character, offer silky textures and are some of the most intense wines Piedmont has to offer.

Piedmont sitting at the foot of the mountains is justly regarded as one of, if not the finest wine growing region in Italy. The noblest grape found in the region in undoubtedly Nebbiolo, with the DOCG's of Barolo and Barbaresco at the forefront of production. Barbera and Dolcetto come in second and third, and being earlier ripening are often found located on those sides of the hills that receive less sunshine. The wines from Piedmont are intrinsically food friendly wines, a fact understandable given the culinary strength of the area.

Item added to basket

Tax Status Explained

IB stands for In Bond. Wines that are stored In Bond have not had UK Duty and VAT paid on them.

Most of our wines are available for purchase under bond, as fine wines often need to be laid down in order to allow them to mature. Many clients choose therefore to store them in our bonded warehouse and pay the tax as and when they wish to get the wines delivered. Please note that Wines purchased In Bond can be exported to non-EU countries without the need for Duty and VAT to be paid.

DP stands for duty paid. If you wish to get wines delivered for drinking, the duty and VAT will need to be paid as it leaves its bonded state in the warehouse. The wine is then said to be duty paid.

All taxes must be paid in order for us to be authorised to ship or deliver wine (unless the wine is bonded and being moved to another bonded warehouse or being shipped directly outside of the EU.)

EP stands for En Primeur. These wines are currently held with the Estate and Domaine’s we work with and will be shipped in due course.